Tag: march 2026

U.S. Navy Finalizes Requirements for T-45 Replacement Trainer

Aviation Week reports, “The U.S. Navy has set an aggressive timeline and cost goal for its next-generation trainer, and will keep its plan to no longer require carrier-representative unflared landings to meet it. The service on March 26 released its final request for proposals (RFP) for the Undergraduate Jet Training System to replace its aging T-45 Goshawk fleet.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

MBDA Plans $5.8B Investment, 2,800 Hires as Missile Demand Soars

Breaking Defense reports, “European missile giant MBDA plans hire 2,800 new workers and invest €5 billion ($5.8 billion) over the next five years to increase weapons production, CEO Eric Béranger said on Thursday. In comments that often sounded like a victory lap, Béranger stated that ‘MBDA has attained an unprecedented strategic dimension as one of the instrumental pillars of rearmament in Europe,’ a claim he based off of three key figures: that MBDA’s 2025 revenues amounted to €5.8 billion ($6.7 billion), that the order intake was €13.2 billion ($15.2 billion) of which 70 percent came from European customers, and the order backlog was worth €44.4 billion ($51.3 billion).”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)

U.S. House Advances Legislation to Lift Ban on Supersonic Travel Over Land

Aerotime reports, “The US House of Representatives passed legislation aimed at opening the skies to civil supersonic flight over land, a step supporters say could usher in a new era of air travel in the United States. The bill would require the FAA to revise its rules within a year to allow civil aircraft to fly faster than Mach 1 over land without special authorization, provided no sonic boom reaches the ground. The measure, H.R. 3410, targets a long-standing FAA ban dating to 1973, when regulators barred overland civil supersonic flight because of noise concerns tied to sonic booms.”
Full Story (Aerotime)

Reimagining America’s R&D Framework: Valuing Our Laboratories and Testing Facilities as National Treasures

FROM THE INSTITUTE
The leadership of the U.S. aerospace and defense sectors relies not solely on strategic documents but also on the tangible environments where concepts are validated, calibrated, qualified, stress-tested, and made repeatable. These include laboratories, wind tunnels, anechoic chambers, propulsion test stands, materials testing facilities, space-environment simulators, spectrum testbeds, and instrumentation-rich ranges that transform prototypes into operational systems. When this layer deteriorates, the consequences are predictable: extended timelines, increased rework, fewer testing repetitions, elevated safety risks, decreased throughput, and a growing divide between theoretical capabilities and actual performance in the field.

Nominations Open for Member Advancement

FROM THE INSTITUTE
Do you know an AIAA member who has made outstanding contributions to the aerospace industry? Help us shine a spotlight on their stellar leadership and contributions by nominating them for member advancement, and elevate them to an elite class of AIAA members. Full nomination criteria can be found on the AIAA Honors homepage.

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NASA’s Juno Delivers New Science While Its Future Remains Uncertain

Ars Technica reports, “Jupiter’s colossal storms generate lightning flashes at least 100 times more powerful than those on Earth, according to scientists analyzing data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The findings were published March 20 in the journal AGU Advances. Researchers used data recorded by Juno in 2021 and 2022, after NASA granted an extension to the spacecraft’s operations upon completing a five-year science campaign at Jupiter. Juno remains in good health, but NASA officials have not said if they will approve another extension for the mission.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)

NASA’s X-59 Collects Valuable Data Despite Shortened Second Flight

Aviation International News reports, “NASA’s X-59 supersonic demonstrator returned to the skies on Friday morning for a nine-minute flight that was cut short after a warning light illuminated. However, NASA officials said they were still able to gather data during the second flight from the aircraft built in collaboration with Lockheed Martin at its Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)

AIAA Celebrates the eIPP Awards and AAM Progress

FROM THE INSTITUTE
The eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP) awardees, announced on 9 March, mark an incredible example of coalition building for the future of aerospace. AIAA wants to mark this occasion by noting how the technology fueling AAM has developed in recent years. The Institute supports the community in many ways as they explore how best to implement AAM operations and connecting multimodal transportation to novel aircraft use cases.